Fate Hex of Hexanos
by Imperial Doctor
Summary: The Sixth holy grail war occurs sometime after the events of Fate/ Stay Night (Unlimited Blade Works) when Jubstacheit is desperate to activate the Third magic: Heaven's Feel after the failures of many generations. The Mage association sends a representative to deal with the threat and to ally themselves with the chosen masters so to take down the old man driven by desperation...
1. Chapter 1

**Foreword (PLZ READ)**

Ah, beginnings, how I just adore writing them. introducing main characters, describing them and the environment that they tread my world upon. Nevertheless with my love for beginnings comes a terrible cost: I can never again recapture and replicate the care and attention to detail as I did in those said starting points, that is why I jus can never complete writing up any of my ideas. That said, I will endeavour to have my stories fully armed and operational by the time your friends arrive. Oh dear... I'm making references in an almost unrelated franchise...

Now, story background: our tale takes place more than a decade and a half since the events of Fate/ Stay Night has transpired, more specifically the Unlimited Blade Works path of the storyline. Although there has been many Holy Grail related events after the Fate/ Stay Night such as Fate/ Hollow Atraxia and Grand Order amongst many more alternate futures in the Nasuverse, I will be disregarding them so to make room for my own storyline (though I will add references to other Fate series in homage to the actual Fate storylines). This war will be a normal war, unlike Apocrypha, Extra or the aforementioned Grand Order, so it's just old school seven masters and servants fighting each other to win the wish granting Holy Grail. Although I was rather fond of the Saber x Shirou pairing in the Fate path, I'd much prefer the Rin x Shirou in the Unlimited Blade Works path which is hinted in this chapter; but unlike the stereotypical fanfic author, I favour writing OCs and putting my own spin in that stories' plot over writing pairing stories or lemons that sometimes (OK, all the time) bring the characters out of character. That said, it's just my selfish opinion which doesn't really matter because as human writers we are entitled to the responsibility of free will and to be able to express the imagination that we all have.

Anyway, the main characters of this story is going to obviously be Saber and their master and the storytelling will be similar to Fate Zero's as I quite like Fate/ Zero's way of storytelling where all the servants and masters have their own storyline that is well endowed with delicious detail and one that matters; Apocrypha just has way too much characters but is more plot driven so only a few characters get some actual development (the black and red Casters were my favourite servants, with Ruler, Archer and Assassin of Red and Lancer of Black tying second); Grand Order was sort of the same but took on more of a comedy route which was alright but having a long standing game with a masterpiece level grim storyline of Zero would get boring eventually, at least a comedy route keeps the players stuck to their screens mesmerised by the humorous dialogue and their beautiful 2-D waifus (or husbandos). By the by, it turns out that Hexanos is Spanish for Hexane...

If you made it through the foreword without skipping, I congratulate you, however, the rest of the story has barely begun...

* * *

 **Fate/ Hex of Hexanos**

 **Chapter 1: A Sixth Holy grail war?**

The man ran with all his might both magical and physical. Using his magic circuits to enhance his running speed, he gasped and panted as he focused his will and mana to maintain this superhuman speed. He had already achieved double the speed of a cheetah in it's prime, but still, this ability to cover large distances in a short period of time was barely enough to get him to the other side of the Mage association headquarters of London. Wearing black rimmed glasses and the equally black, long cape of the Mage association, Caules Yggdmilennia's robes were tattered and battered, his face scratched, his exposed left arm bleeding and covered with glowing green circuit like patterns which indicate his magic circuits were at work. His face was adorned with a moustache that curled on the end, upon his head were long locks of untidy dark brown-blond hair that grew disorderly due to negligence like overgrown weeds upon an unattended garden, the pair of blue pupilled eyes were bloodshot and opened wide like some narcotic intoxicated pauper. At the end of the torch-lit, stone corridor was a heavy oaken door, Caules was in a rush to relay the message to his superior to deal with the door, though at the same time he didn't want to have to pay the bills for property damage. Muttering something under his breath that caused the glowing green circuits on his limbs to dim ever so slightly and his speed to diminish, a strong blast of wind erupted from his outstretched right hand, forcing the door open. Once the spell had finished, the circuits reverted to their bright glowing state.

Not bothering to close the door behind him, Yggdmilennia entered a narrower corridor with arches overlooking the frosty grassed courtyard below and the moonlit night sky above. He felt the cold autumn British breeze upon his face, piercing through his wounded skin. He sighed, at least it was night-time, otherwise he'd be engulfed in a crowd of Mages- students and masters alike- unable to get to the place he needed to get to urgently, seeing as he had no aptitude in teleportation magic; such a technique was way beyond his magical capabilities and knowledge of the art was reserved for the most powerful of Mages. Turning into a corridor, the Mage skidded to a halt in front of a door labelled 'Lord El-Melloi II'. He opened the door without bothering to knock, then deactivating his physical enhancement spell which made him fall to the floor on all fours, gasping for breath and the glowing green circuits faded from his skin, leaving nothing behind. The room was filled with multiple bookshelves with ancient, leather bound books, their spines engraved with the scripts of multiple languages. At centre of the maroon carpeted room was a large dark, polished wood desk which had piles of paper with writing on them and several leather bound books that may have been taken out of the bookshelves in the room. Moreover, there was a curiously small, wooden box which had the same colour as the desk, almost as if camouflaged from view, though the golden coloured lock gave away it's position. Behind the desk was Lord El- Melloi the Second (otherwise known as Waver Velvet to some), a thin, bespectacled gentleman wearing a black suit and red tie, his long, black hair cascaded down his front, reaching his chest, the hair parted by his narrow, pale face. In his hand he held a white feather quill which he wrote on an A4 piece of paper riddled with paragraphs of handwritten work to which he ticked, crossed and commented on in blood red ink.

Lord El-Melloi the Second looked up from his marking at Caules, who was gasping for breath on all fours.

"Wouldn't it hurt to knock, Yggdmilennia?" said El-Melloi in a tone of indifference to Caules' state, then setting his quill into the ink pot to his right, "I take it the apprehending of House Einzbern's elder was unsuccessful?"

Caules got up and composed himself despite his wounded state in front of El-Melloi.

"It's worse sir, the elder has escaped with an entourage of armed homunculi," explained Caules gravely once he got his breath back, pushing his cracked glasses up his nose, he spoke in an Eastern European accent, "I'm afraid he has also declared his intention to restart the Fuyuki Holy Grail war"

"That... is disturbing news, most disturbing indeed..." replied Lord El-Melloi thoughtfully, his voice holds a hint of anxiety. Standing up from his chair, the lord walked to the window behind the chair which overlooked the river Thames, he then turned to face Caules, "what of your team? Any casualties?"

"Yes sir, only half of us made it back alive, two are in bad shape and may need several months in hospital," answered Caules.

"I'd thought the fifth Holy Grail had been the last one," mused Lord El-Melloi, gazing out of the window, "the chances of another occurring is the same as the chance of me becoming a demi-servant... are you willing to volunteer as a Master in this war?"

"I don't know... my grandfather participated in the third..."

"That'll be a no then," Lord El-Melloi cut in, then he turned to face the desk and looked at the small box on his desk, "let me see... Emiya has gone to Afghanistan to deal with a group of magical arms dealers and Tohsaka is in South America recovering an artefact..."

"Perhaps an overwhelming attack by summoning servants from Chaldeas?" suggested Caules.

"No, no, it hasn't come to that, we needn't bother director Animusphere," disagreed El-Melloi, "wait, I guess there is one more option..."

Then he summoned a file from one of his steel cabinets. Following that, he pulled out a profile card with the name 'Emrys Nomenus'. Caules' eyes widened in surprise.

"But... he's a wildcard..."

"Do you have a better idea?" snapped back El-Melloi to which Caules responded with a shake of his head. El Melloi redirected his gaze at the small box and narrowed his eyes, "but I do have a back up to ensure that the grail doesn't fall to the wrong person..."

 _ **Break**_

"I'm home!" called a Japanese boy, Emiya Minoru, his aqua eyes gleamed with weary joy and his short red hair spiked like a sea urchin, "hello? Mother?"

Taking off his black shoes, he stepped onto the light coloured wooden floor with his white socks. The hallway was quite narrow but was wide enough to have three people standing next to each other, shoulders touching. A wide wall clock decorated the left hand side of the room from where Minoru was positioned. To Minoru's right was a Shoji door that led to the living room. Sliding open the Shoji door, he went into the living room, a large enough place with a rectangular table at it's centre along with several square shaped cushions for the occupants and guests of the residence to kneel and eat their meals. A flower pot placed here and there, which his mother had replaced recently. A sharp, stinging pain graced the back of his left hand; Minoru inspected the damage, there where the pain originated was a black-purple bruise with small streaks of red. The boy grimaced at the damage. _Funny_ , he thought, _that wasn't there this morning_. Minoru decided to venture further and probe the abrasion with his right index finger. As soon as the finger touched the bruised skin, Minoru felt no pain whatsoever. Then he decided to touch the red parts, only to find that it wasn't blood. Shrugging, Minoru dismissed the wound as some dirt he must've picked up from tripping over during his physical education class. His mother clearly wasn't in the living room.

Minoru searched, in the study, his parents' bedroom and the Dojo. She was nowhere to be found. There was but one more place. Opening the glass sliding door to the backyard, there was the grey, withered storehouse. He picked up the wooden slippers and put them on before setting foot onto the soil. The rusty steel doors of the building proved a difficult enough challenge for Minoru to open, however, the stubborn, ancient thing eventually yielded to him without it's hinges breaking off and opened with a metallic scrape that would make one wince. Minoru was gasping by the time he opened the blasted door, he wiped his forehead of the sweat and proceeded into the dark building. Inside the storehouse were piles of pipes discarded and strewn about the floor, stacks of cardboard boxes wrapped in cloths skulked in the shadows. Minoru hadn't gone inside the store in his life, it usually was his father that occasionally entered the place, in the case of his mother... now that he thought about it, he'd never recalled ever seeing or hearing of his mother enter the place. Still... she could have come in here to do a favour for his father, who was now away in the Middle East with his work. He looked amongst the pillars of boxes, still no sign of his mother. He decided to give up on his search.

 _Maybe she's coming home late from work again_ , he thought, then sighed, "I guess I'll go make dinner, then"

As he went to the exit of the storehouse, he saw a circular structure being drawn on the ground. It resembled a pentagram or some magical symbol, it was about one and half metres in diameter. Minoru frowned and moved closer to investigate. Nevertheless, as he approached the symbol, the pain from the 'bruise' on his left hand intensified, causing Minoru to back off from the symbol and hurry off out of the building without bothering to close the door.

In the kitchen, Minoru washed his hands, only to find that the 'patch of dirt' wouldn't come off. He wrapped white bandages around his left hand before putting on a faded red apron to start making a bubbling boiling stew. Slicing up meat and dicing down vegetables then placing them in the saucepan of scalding flavoured tasty water. The broth's steam filled the room with mouth wateringly savoury aroma. Minoru inhaled the tantalising smell and sighed, _a simple stew... what could go wrong?_ Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Emiya Minoru narrowed his eyes and growled with irritated impatience.

 _Darn it, I've almost finished!_ Thought Minoru.

"Please wait!" Minoru shouted at the knocker with as little annoyance as he could keep tempered and with as much urgency in his voice. However, the knocker persisted and to his realisation, the boy saw that the living room door was closed so his shouted message may have gone unheard. Minoru threw down the metal ladle in frustration and headed out of the kitchen in a hurry, prioritising the insistent intruder over his incensed cooking. Sliding the sliding Shoji door open to allow him into the hall way, he saw a silhouetted shadow behind the door (it was already late in the afternoon by now). Could it be one of his friends or perhaps a total stranger with an unclear motive? He had to be sure. Picking up his father's umbrella with his right hand- wielding the item by the handle like some one handed longsword he'd seen in historical western movies and fantasy anime- afterwards swinging open the main door to reveal... a dark purple haired girl wearing the same beige school uniform as the one he had. Her eyes wide with shock at Minoru's father umbrella held at such a threatening pose.

Heaving a sigh of relief, Minoru lowered his father's umbrella and his aggressively defensive act. He smiled warmly at the newcomer.

"Hi, Miyuki," greeted Minoru, his smile twisting awkwardly, "sorry about that, I get jumpy when I'm home alone"

"Umm... Emiya-senpai...?" replied the girl nervously, before bowing low, Minoru noticed her giving his bandaged left hand a brief glance, "y-you left your sports kit back in your science classroom"

"How very kind of you... I suppose you volunteered to bring it back to me personally?" asked Minoru, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"W-well, actually yes I did," admitted Miyuki, stuttering and straightening herself up whilst her gaze remained at the ground, "it seemed convenient seeing as I go past your house to get to my bus"

"Oh..." nodded Minoru, dropping his suspicious demeanour and accepting his bag of sports kit from her hands, then he looked at the clock on his right, "when's your bus?"

Looking down at her watch, Miyuki's grey eyes widened, "oh no! I've just missed it!"

"When's the next one?" asked Minoru, gazing at the clock again.

"Not until two hours," confirmed Miyuki, then she looked up at Minoru pleadingly, "may I stay at your house until then?"

"Sure, come in, lock he door behind you," shrugged Minoru, waving her over and turning his back to her as he made his way back to the living room, "I was just making some stew..."

Minoru Emiya halted in his tracks as his eyes widened in horror as he heard a whistle like noise coming from the kitchen, "Oh no! The Stew!"

A couple of minutes later Minoru, came into the living room with a thick, red heat protection glove that matched his apron holding a blackened bottomed sauce pan. Opening the glass lid, he poured servings of the stew into the ceramic bowls with the ladle. Miyuki looked on as her upperclassman served her share of the stew. She noticed that there was a third bowl on her table.

"There we go, Miyuki," Minoru said to her, after finishing filling her bowl with a sufficient volume of stew, "sorry, it's a bit bad, I think I sort of overcooked it"

Miyuki put her hands together, closed her eyes and muttered the prayer "Thanks for the food!" before slurping a bit with her spoon, "I don't think it's bad at all, the flavour and texture is just right, although there's something that's a bit off, other than that... it's pretty good over all"

Minoru knelt down to both knees on one of the cushions, took up his hands and put them together and closing his eyes before muttering the prayer: "thank you for the food"

"Umm... Emiya-senpai?" enquired Miyuki.

"Miyuki, you don't have to call me by that title outside of school," reasoned Minoru, not looking up from his food, "call me by my given name, I don't go around calling you Matou, now do I? Besides we've known each other since preschool anyway so it's alright"

"Okay M...Minoru," replied Miyuki nervously.

"There, Isn't that all better?" said Emiya patronisingly looking up from his food, smiling at Miyuki, "Now, was there something you wanted ask me?"

"Oh, yes, were you expecting someone?" asked Miyuki nodding at the third bowl, whilst picking up her chopsticks.

"My mother, I think she's coming home late from work," shrugged Minoru, picking up his own chopsticks, then pointed at Miyuki's left hand with his own bandaged left hand, "I have a question for you, what's that on your left hand?"

Miyuki, set down her chopsticks and hurriedly closed her right hand over her left, "I...it's nothing, really! Just a bruise from when I accidentally hit a door on my way to school"

Minoru frowned and at the same time a clap of thunder was heard from the outside, followed by the tapping of rain drops. Then he shrugged and went back to his stew, spying Miyuki sigh with relief from his peripheral.

Once they had finished their meal, Minoru gathered up the bowls and the saucepan (which was cold enough by now to be picked up by his bare hands) to put them in the basin to be washed. As he washed, Minoru observed Miyuki staring at the bruise on her left hand with a mix of fascination and terror. The rain continued it's pitter-patter on the roof of the Emiya residence and the ground outside, Minoru wondered when the rain would stop.

"M-Minoru, I've got to go," notified Miyuki, standing up from her cushion. Minoru stopped his dish washing to come and see his childhood friend off. When he caught up with Miyuki Matou, she had already finished putting on her left shoe. The rain persisted its bombardment outside...

"Hey, Miyuki, d'you wanna borrow my father's umbrella?" offered Minoru, gesturing at the item he'd used earlier, before picking it up, "I'm sure he won't mind"

"Yes, thanks for the offer," bowed Miyuki, accepting the umbrella from Minoru's hand, "I'll give it back tomorrow"

Suddenly there was a knock on the door followed by a violently audible clap of thunder. Behind the door, there was another silhouetted figure; this time they were much larger and had an umbrella. _This person's come prepared_ , thought Minoru, who then shrugged and opened the door, the boy sensed his friend motion to stop him, however, she was too late. There standing in the rain, was a tall man, wearing a dark raincoat over his suit looking dark robes. The stranger bowed his head.

"Am I at the Emiya residence?" the newcomer asked, his Japanese was fluent enough to be easily understood, however, the manner gave his speech like that of some theatrical play gave away the fact that he was a foreigner. Moving into the light, revealing his face: a beige skinned man with a dark and almost villainous moustache.

"Yes, you are, can I help you, sir?" asked Minoru, his voice monotonous and casual.

"Then I take it you are Emiya Minoru?" he queried once more. Minoru nodded, trying hard not to fidget uncomfortably; the stranger directed his gaze at Miyuki, who edged backwards ever so slightly and covering her left hand's back with her right palm swiftly. Afterwards, the man returned to look at Minoru, "I have some sensitive information for you only, Emiya-kun, I am afraid this young lady should take her leave despite the weather"

"She was leaving anyway," shot back Minoru, a little too defensively. Then moving to the side to let Miyuki past out of the doorway, the stranger mirrored his movement. Just when Miyuki barely finished passing the stranger, the newcomer spoke in a loud enough voice.

"Perhaps the young lady would require transportation?" offered the stranger, gesturing at the taxi in front of the house with an open hand, whilst making it look like he was bowing at Miyuki, "the last bus broke down, I no longer need transport as the driver had pointed out that my destination is but a short walk from here, you needn't pay for the taxi as technically the destination hasn't been reached and could still be changed"

Miyuki just looked at the stranger, unsure of what to say. Minoru kept his silence.

"T-thank you, sir" Miyuki finally replied, bowing and rushing off to enter the taxi. Minoru and the stranger stared at the departing vehicle before returning their gazes at each other.

"I don't mean to be rude, but what sort of weird twisted game are you playing?" enquired Minoru, his eyes narrowing in suspicion, his voice low but evenly calm and his eyebrows furrowed into a frown.

"The Holy Grail War, that's what," answered the stranger whose respectful formal speech switched so suddenly into something that seemed so casual and confident, Minoru was taken aback at the sudden change in tone and the mention of the ' _Holy Grail war_ ', then the stranger switched back to his first speaking style, "now if you'll allow me to enter, I will answer your questions"

After putting his raincoat and umbrella in their respective places in the hallway, the stranger followed Minoru into the house's living room. Taking a cross legged seat on a cushion, the stranger kept his eyes fixed upon the table's surface whilst patiently waiting for Minoru to finish washing the bowls that were used. Once Minoru had completed his dish washing, he knelt on a cushion opposite the stranger, who now was wearing a navy blue Edwardian style velvet jacket accompanied by a dark brown and gold waistcoat, and a matching navy blue cravat.

"Emiya Minoru, allow me to introduce myself, I am Emrys Nomenus, representative of the Mage association in this Grail War," the man bowed his head at Minoru, _This stranger really does have a way with words_ , thought Minoru, "I'm sure your parents have mentioned the holy grail and magic to you at least once?"

Minoru nodded.

"By the way your mother won't be coming home in a long time, so can I have that?" the man said again in his casual tone, pointing at the extra bowl of stew, Minoru nodded again which prompted the stranger to reach and grab the bowl. Muttering to himself in a language unrecognisable to Minoru's ears, the stranger mage's eyes glowed gold for a fleeting moment before reverting to it's normal state, he looked up at Minoru as if having read his mind, "I'm on a vegetarian diet to let me perform a ritual"

"But, both my parents told me the Grail War was over" Minoru protested.

"So did everyone else, but one of the heirs of the founders of the grail war, Jubstacheit von Einzbern, elder of the Einzbern mage family, restarted the holy grail war somehow, that's all the association told me about that" explained the Mage, then he pointed at Minoru, "Minoru-kun, do you know any magecraft?"

"Well, my father taught me the basics of strengthening and projection magic, and my mother taught me some crystal magic and a little bit of Gandr," elaborated Minoru modestly, then shrugged, "but then again, still, just the basics, I don't see how I've anything to do with this 'war' of yours"

"May I see what's under the bandage on your left hand?" enquired Emrys Nomenus, Minoru obliged by unwrapping his bandaged left hand like some preserved mummy being unfurled by archaeologists. There on the skin of the hand's back was a red marking, clearly made of three strokes (like a pencil or thin brush stroke) and looked like a straight line with two bolts of uniquely shaped lightning bolts coming off it, however the lightning bolt- whilst clearly a lightning bolt- curved slightly inwards towards the tip of the straight line so that it looked like a laurel wreath an emperor would wear as a crown. Minoru's eyes widened, startled at the change since there was no other evidence of the bruise that had been there previously.

"W-what...?"

"As you can see, slightly just a third of this grisly war business has _everything_ to do with you," continued Emrys Nomenus, whilst Minoru stared in awe at the back of his left hand, "the other slightly less than two thirds belong to the Einzberns and the Matous... or was it Makiri? Anyway, the Holy Grail Wars were started by those two aforementioned families and the Tohsakas, which you, Minoru-kun, represent as you are a descendant from that Magus family line"

Minoru Emiya looked up at the older man, his face twisted into a frown again, "aren't there seven mage participants?"

"Yes, but those masters take up the rest of the space unfilled by the first three," explained Emrys Nomenus, "filling the role of allies, distractions and tools to help one of the three succeed their goals in being granted a wish by the grail"

"Then would Miyuki, my childhood friend, be a master too?" ventured Minoru, his voice filled with a cocktail of fear and pity, Emrys Nomenus nodded gravely prompting Minoru to sigh, "you're a mage Nomenus-san-"

"No please, I insist on being addressed by my full name," interrupted Emrys Nomenus smiling with amusement? Embarrassment? "It's only two words long, though at least, perhaps I can do without the honorific"

"Okay, Emrys Nomenus," began Minoru again, Emrys Nomenus nodded and continued eating the magically meddled stew, "you're a mage, but I don't see one of those red markings on either of your hands, may I ask why?"

The mage slurped the last contents of the stew, then wiped his mouth with a tissue before resuming the conversation, "Minoru-kun, not all mages are selected by the Holy Grail to fight for it, I was technically sent here by the association to deal with the situation and to have masters co-operate with me to achieve the total end of this twisted ritual. I doubt the master selection process of the war is complete, but if there's the slightest chance I would be chosen by the Grail, I would be your ally- that is if you have a goal that corresponds with mine"

"And if I don't?" asked Minoru, a little too harshly perhaps. Emrys Nomenus smiled again.

"When you said your parents told you that the war was over, I was confident that you'd be a co-operative master," explained Emrys Nomenus calmly, gesturing broadly, "with that statement I assumed that you do not have the Tohsakas' ambitiously selfish, unreachable goal of attaining the 'root of all magic'"

"Maybe... maybe not," smirked Minoru, "for all you know I could have another goal that _doesn't_ correspond with your own, I'll have you know that I have my own wish"

No one spoke after that, the living room was quiet and only the ticking of the hallway clock was heard. Then, Emrys Nomenus smiled.

"Well, then I suppose I'll be going, I'll be at the old Tohsaka manor if you need to speak with me," Emrys Nomenus told the boy, slowly getting up and walking towards the hallway, "although I think you should visit the church and talk to the priestess there if you want some actual advice regarding the war, my knowledge is limited to that of legends and rumours, I'm afraid"

The mage stopped and turned to face Minoru, his hand going inside his inner jacket pocket, pulling out a small cuboid package, "you'll be needing this, inside is the catalyst and the summoning chant"

Minoru took the package with mutter of gratitude.

Putting on his shoes and raincoat, Emrys Nomenus readied himself to return to the rainy outdoors. Minoru followed the mage to see him off. Once the mage picked up his black umbrella with a red question mark shaped handle, Minoru unlocked the door and stepped aside to allow the man to exit the house.

"Oh dear, it's still pouring down," remarked Emrys Nomenus with his calm casual voice, then he turned to face Minoru and bowed, "thanks for having me around Minoru-kun"

The boy had swung the door shut and locked it, leaving Emrys Nomenus standing alone in the rain outside. Walking out of the Emiya residence, the mage exhaled heavily and a shimmering energy field around his left hand seemed to unfold like some fine, silk cloth, exposing his hand... it's back decorated by a red marking that looked like a snake with two wings. His eyes silhouetted by his hood's shadow, he smirked slyly.

"The gambit has been played," muttered Emrys Nomenus under his breath, chuckling.

Inside the house, Minoru stared in fascination at the package the stranger had given him. Unwrapping the brown paper, there was a small metal box with a piece of parchment. He turned it over to see in the reverse side a couple of line of writing written in a cursive script using the Latin alphabet system. Minoru sighed, foreign languages wasn't exactly his most favourite subject and the uniquely personalized cursive script didn't help either. Then at the bottom, as if to mock him, written in kanji was: ' _All will become clear when the summoning circle is activated_ '. A summoning circle... the strange circular drawing in the shed he had found earlier, could that be it? Minoru opened the box, inside was a shard of silvery coloured metal. The mage did say inside was the catalyst, how did it work? Something that could make him summon something specific or something that would speed up a reaction? Closing the box and placing the parchment in his pocket, Minoru put on his raincoat and headed to the exit that led to the backyard where the storehouse was.

The rain poured even more intensely now, pummelling his hood and tapering it to the crown of his head. Minoru nudged the door open, though with excessive force which caused him to stumble into the building. Grunting, the boy got up and walked up to the circular drawing, then taking out the catalyst to be placed on an upside down cardboard box in front of the circle. From his pocket, he fished out the parchment; now the writing was understandable in his mind and easily memorised as if it were second nature, somehow even if it wasn't in Japanese.

"From the essence of silver and iron," began Emiya Minoru, his facial expression as solemn as his tone, "let the stone and the Archduke of Pacts be the foundation, and by my ancestor, the great master, Schweinorg"

Wind began to whistle outside and swinging the door, banging it against he stone wall, "Raise a wall against the oncoming wind and close the gates of the cardinal directions"

From inside his raincoat pocket, he brought out three spiky, rainbow coloured crystals which he had for safekeeping, his mother had taught him crystal magic, how to store his mana into those crystals and how to extract them in a specific way when the time came.

"Come forth from the Crown, and follow the forked road leading to the Kingdom," the boy said, his voice trembling inexplicably, though Minoru suspected it was due to the excitement. He clutched his hand tightly around the three crystals, crushing them and at the same time their sharp edges cut through his skin, drawing blood. A fluorescent green liquid-esque substance flecked with red blood dripped onto the summoning circle, the lines of the drawing imitated the green glow of the substance and surpassing the light intensity of the fluorescent liquid like substance.

"Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill," Minoru continued chanting, reading off the parchment on his unused hand whilst the hand that crushed the crystals outstretched a if trying to grab something, "repeat five times, but destroy each time it is filled. Set. Heed my words: My will creates your body and your sword creates my destiny"

The light green glow of the summoning circle flickered as if struggling to maintain it's brightness like some ageing torch. The circle began to crackle like short circuiting static electricity and changed to a glimmering ruby colour, "If you heed the Grail's call and obey my will and reason, then answer me: I hereby swear that I shall be all the good in the world, that I shall defeat all evil in the world, you of the seven heavens clad in the great words of of power, come forth from the ring of constraint, Protector of the balance!"

With that, the building was engulfed with red light and a powerful blast of warm wind blew Minoru off his feet, landing on his back. The room was then filled with dust from the neglected objects in the room, causing Minoru to cough and his eyes to water. He felt as if he were drowning in a sea of spice and pepper. A loud slamming of metal to stone was heard, prompting the dust to clear due to another blast of warm air. Emiya Minoru couldn't believe his eyes: in front of him was a long red and black, jagged sword and behind it golden greaves and boots topped by a wide red dress that had it's lower front almost translucent, showing the gleaming leg armour. Further up the red dress with gold finish were golden epaulettes on both shoulders; the red sleeves were long and were frilled at the end with the same translucent material as the one used lower down the dress. The wearer was a young Caucasian woman with straight, blonde hair tied in a braid bun by a red silk ribbon, the front of her hair was fringed and two bangs of hair equally distanced cascaded down to her shoulders. Her pale, regal face was smooth and perfectly proportioned, her nose was petite but pointy and her large emerald green eyes glinted in the light of night. He didn't know what it was about this young woman, was it her dazzling beauty or her authoritative air that mesmerised him like a bear to honey?

"I ask you," spoke the red dressed young woman in a voice that sounded so high pitched it may as well have belonged to a child, but there was always that tell-tale background noise that signifies one's age, "Are you worthy to be... my master?

* * *

 **Afterword (PLZ READ)**

Thank you for reading my Fate fanfic, your reading time is most appreciated and comments are welcome (within reason).

I thought I should just end the chapter with the iconic saber line that they always deliver after a summon which is always spine tinglingly cool. Then there's the summoning ritual which has the masters chant that really cool chant which I've always thought started with ' _fill, fill, fill, fill, fill_ ' but it actually doesn't. I don't know whether I should include a Fujimaru mage or an Edelfelt mage, though I would put in the latter, it wouldn't be Luvia but they'd probably be female and have that funny ' _ohohohoho_ ' laugh that Luvia has which I find both cute and hilarious. Speaking of cute, hopefully I will make Red Saber say at least one " _Umu!_ " in her dialogue next chapter. Also, I will try to avoid making Miyuki Matou a rip-off of Sakura, who was also a great character in Heaven's Feel. And a final note: I will unfortunately not have Tamammo-no-Mae as the Caster because that would basically just turn this story into a Fate Extaella retell in Fuyuki, therefore another servant will be the Caster class.

Stay tuned for more Fate/ Hex of Hexanos chapters, I look forward to writing the next instalment!


	2. Chapter 2

**Foreword (PLZ PLZ READ)**

I noticed my Star Wars fanfics seem to be very popular among you so I will publish the next instalment as soon as I am able to (I think I'm halfway in finishing chapter 1). That said, I would like to thank you guys for reading my works so far and I hope you will continue reading on, your time spent reading my pieces are much appreciated!

So, onto the story, I think me writing this as the second episode of Fate/ Extra Last Encore was released was quite appropriate, seeing as in this chapter the Master- Emiya Minoru- has his first character development with Nero in the second chapter just as Hakuno (the Master of Saber in the Fate/ Extra)did in the second episode. I have added more nods to the other Fate series which succeed the Stay Night story and I hope you like them, I know I did since I find them a fine addition to my own story. Furthermore we get a glimpse at the main 'antagonists' of this fanfiction series and a surprise 'Heroic Spirit' that that master summons, perhaps those readers who are well versed in internet horror lore (I believe is the term?) may figure out the servant's identity.

Anyway, I have enjoyed writing this chapter, although in my opinion it had far too much dialogue than description (Ugh! I'm both disappointed and digusted at myself) but I deemed it essential for the character development despite my misgivings of this feature of this chapter. So without further ado, please read on!

* * *

 **Fate/ Hex of Hexanos**

 **Chapter 2: The emperor and the master**

"I... I'm not sure..." stammered Minoru honestly.

"Umu! Then for now I shall call you Praetor," she nodded with her eyes closed, smiling with satisfaction. The moonlight shone brighter behind her as Minoru realised that the rain had stopped completely.

"I thought you heroic spirits would refer to us as 'master' regardless?" Minoru frowned, still sitting on the ground after falling over.

"Me, a great emperor, serve another? Huh! Such idea is absurd," the red dressed young woman said, looking down her nose at him haughtily, "besides your role is merely to anchor my corporeal form to this world through mana and mine is to win the Holy Grail War by any means necessary"

"Wait... emperor?" the boy asked as he got up, he was at least a foot taller than her.

"Allow me she to introduce myself," the heroic spirit used her free hand to gesture at her torso, "I am heroic spirit class Saber, true name: Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, Emperor of the Rose, what is yours Praetor?"

"I..." Minoru paused, _Wait, wasn't Emperor Nero a guy?_ Emiya looked straight into Nero's green eyes, "I am Emiya Minoru"

"Then our pact is sealed, Praetor," she nodded again, then lifting her sword from the ground and resting the blade on her epaulette, which curiously didn't crease under the weight of the large sword, "and I shall be the one in command of our partnership"

"Could we at least be equals?" ventured Emiya, nervously eyeing the massive sword the Roman emperor carried over her shoulder, "I mean, I play an important role in this, perhaps even more than you..."

Nero looked up at the ceiling and stroked her chin with her free hand, "you make a valid point, my Praetor, then perhaps we _shall_ be equals in this"

The Empress held out her hand with cordial intent. Minoru took the hand and shook it, returning her smile. And so master and servant- or as Nero saw it- Emperor and Praetor exited the storehouse, with Minoru closing the door then leading the recently summoned heroic spirit into the house. As they walked towards the house through the squelchy mud, the air around him seemed to become warm as if he was inside a central heated room and the ground below him felt harder as it dried. Was this as a consequence of the radiant emperor's influence? Before the got near the door that led them into the house, the Red Saber tapped him on the shoulder. Minoru pivoted on his heel to turn to face his servant, who was now awkwardly distanced far too close to him.

"Well, Praetor, what do you think of my magnificent majesty?" she smiled, stepping backwards and twirling around, her hands gesturing broadly at their surroundings. Minoru noticed that the sword she had wielded earlier had disappeared into thin air. The boy didn't remained silent and shrugged.

"Do you not see that even the rain stopped and the moon shone brighter as a consequence of my arrival?" continued the emperor, her smile widened boastfully.

"Meh, it was just a coincidence," dismissed Minoru, to which Nero responded with the disappearance of her smile replaced with an offended mouth gape along with placing her hands on her hips, "besides no servant can be that powerful"

"You know not the power we Heroic spirits wield," Red Saber replied, gritting her teeth, her fist clenching, "if you doubt the immense power I command, then I shall prove it to you"

With a flaming red light that gathered around her right arm, the jagged longsword that she wielded materialised. The hilt was gripped by Saber's right hand tightly. Minoru hid his fear of being struck down by an angered heroic spirit and instead put on a calm yet defiant smile.

"What? and allow the enemy masters' familiars that might possibly be spying on us to discover your Noble Phantasm?" questioned Minoru, barely maintaining an even voice due to his fight or flight response adrenaline kicking in, he could even feel his calm smile trembling ever so slightly. Emiya Minoru wondered whether his point would make Saber stand down, he didn't want to have to waste his command seal on something this petty...

Saber sighed and loosened her grip on her sword, causing the long red and black blade to vanish like a crumbling sand castle to wind.

"Umu, you make a valid point, Praetor," nodded Nero approvingly, she even sounded almost impressed, "a man of your common sense and wisdom is surely worthy to be treated as... an equal"

"I'm still a boy by the way, but I am technically 'of age'," Minoru pointed out modestly, then he pointed with his left hand, which had the command seal, at Saber, "but surely such compliment warrants to reinforce my status as your master, Saber"

Saber stared at him blankly with her green eyes before bursting out with laughter. Minoru sighed, it was pointless, his father's Saber in the last war was very obedient, though his mother's Archer, on the other hand required a command seal to compel his obedience, but even that didn't last long. Minoru, on the other hand wanted to keep the use of his command seals to a minimal, seeing as every master only had three in their possession and no more unless the overseer of the Grail War gave them extra as a reward under extraordinary circumstances. But that wasn't very likely to happen, at least not this early in the war.

"Oh, Praetor, it'll take more than a couple of words to make you worthy to be my master," laughed Saber heartily, then she calmed down, "although I am genuinely impressed that you didn't lose your temper and using one of those command seals to compel obedience as that would be utterly useless"

"I give up," sighed Minoru, heading towards the door leading into the main building of the Emiya residence.

Minoru was back in the living room in the kitchen section, washing dishes. Whilst Saber knelt on the cushion eating the leftovers of the stew that Minoru had made earlier. Minoru noticed that the Roman emperor was quite proficient in her use of chopsticks despite her ancient European origins having never eaten with chopsticks. Perhaps all servants were equipped with enough knowledge of an era and the part of the world that they were summoned to by the Grail. Finally, the Emperor of the Rose sipped the final contents of the bowl before exhaling with appreciation. Minoru collected the empty bowl and proceeded to wash it.

"Umu, you cook well, Praetor," remarked red Saber, wiping her mouth in an elegant manner with a tissue, "under normal circumstances I would have punished you for giving a person of privileged status such as myself, the left overs, however, this meal was excellent and worthy of praise and so I shall spare you my wrath"

Once Minoru had finished dish washing, he knelt opposite Saber. She looked up at her Praetor.

"So what now?" asked the emperor.

"Well, since there aren't much we can do right now you might as well tell me what this is," asked Minoru, taking the shard of silver from his pocket, "this is the thing that I used a catalyst to summon you, it must be linked to your past somehow, do you have any idea what this is?"

Saber took the shard of silver from Minoru's hand and examined it closely, frowning as she did so.

"Hmm... how extraordinary, I possessed many treasures during my reign," she said, her gaze still transfixed at the object, "but none as strange as this, I have no recollection of ever encountering this object in my life but it seems so familiar... perhaps it came after my passing? How did you come by this?"

"A Mage gave it to me earlier this evening," shrugged Minoru, taking back the object from Saber's grasp and stowing it inside his raincoat.

"Say, Praetor?"

"Hmm?"

"What would you wish the Grail if we win this war?" asked Saber, her gaze seemed to be more fascinated as it had been when she was examining the catalyst.

"Dunno, an unlimited amount of wishes?" shrugged Minoru dismissively.

The red Saber gave him a look of disappointment.

"No, seriously, I don't know," answered Emiya Minoru, raising his hands in surrender. The last thing he wanted was Saber blowing up the house with whatever Noble Phantasm she possessed, "I mean I'm a mage, my school prestige isn't too bad and my life's fine the way it is, I have all I need. My father and his father before him wished for the salvation of humanity and the Tohsakas wished for the root of all magic, two unattainable goals. But guess what? Every Grail war ends in a disaster with no one getting the upper hand and my parents ended up destroying the last one. What's your wish?"

"Mine? I want the world to be my stage!" Saber declared, standing up and gesturing grandly to the living room around her, "and the people shall be the ever praising audience clapping and cheering at my singing"

"Why don't you ask the Grail to reincarnate you as a human?" suggested Minoru as Saber knelt back down, "then you can use your talent to become a singer, though I'd say that'll be a waste of your many talents"

"Exactly, I wished for world's people to be my ever praising audience," Saber pointed out her Praetor's mistake, "I don't want to work for others, for I am an emperor and the greatest artist in all of history, being reincarnated as a human won't help me at all"

"So let me get this straight, you don't really want to actually rule over people?" asked the boy.

"I did a lot of that in my lifetime, thye're so whiny, I was just testing my new sword and they said that: 'Nero fiddled while Rome burnt'," complained Saber, clenching her fists, "sure they complimented their emperor, but their praises were hollow and were threatened at sword point with the promise of death if they disobeyed, I want people to genuinely love and obey me unquestioningly"

"Yeah, you don't need the Grail for that," explained Minoru, "all you need to do is be nice to people and serve them so that they serve you"

"What kind of ruler does that?" spat Saber.

"My father's Saber, did that," shrugged Emiya.

"That's no fun at all!" Saber shook her head fervently, "that defeats the point of life"

"Does it?" Emiya Minoru asked once more, then gestured at her, "everyone has a role in life, yours was a ruler, doesn't that mean you have to be responsible for your people and not the other way around?"

"What, and let the people rule you?" Saber shot back, her face held an expression of displeasure at her Praetor, looking down at him (despite his obvious height advantage) with disgust as if he were some repulsive slug, "what's the point of ruling something if they don't and won't obey you, we must remind them of their lowly place"

"Ah yes, I forgot, you ruled over ancient Rome," nodded Minoru calmly, "an empire of indulgence and negligence, it wasn't the barbarians that destroyed you, it was your own complacency, the Barbarians were just at the right time and place"

"Rome... my Rome... destroyed?" stammered Saber, her disgust crumbled only to be replaced by disbelief, "that great empire that me and my ancestors built, gone?"

"Everything ends, Saber,"

"Umu, then I have more to add on my wish-list for the grail!" the emperor said in a more cheerful tone, Minoru restrained the urge to face-palm himself and instead grimaced, a bead of sweat rolling down his brow. She didn't get his point. _Never mind..._

"Since we've got nothing to do we might as well go ask the priestess there about our rivals," announced Minoru.

 _ **BREAK**_

As Minoru walked alone up the stone road of the hill that led to the Fuyuki church, he didn't need to hug himself for warmth, Saber's fire affiliated skill Imperial Privilege, he was surrounded by an invisible bubble of warm air. Speaking of invisible, Minoru wasn't really alone, walking beside him was Saber in her spirit form, invisible to all even Minoru himself.

"Tell me again, Praetor, why a glorious emperor like me should conceal myself like some kind of coward?" Saber asked mentally so that only Minoru could hear.

Minoru rolled his eyes, then said aloud, "because you're wearing clothes that don't fit in in this era and also your dress can be considered indecent!"

"How so?" Saber asked, Minoru could imagine her raising an eyebrow, "my dress is the dignified attire of an expressive emperor, it is anything but indecent"

"But the keyword there is 'expressive'-" Minoru pointed out, but then was interrupted by Saber's hushings, "what?"

Suddenly out of the bushes sprung a flash of blue-red flash. Minoru couldn't react fast enough to dodge, nevertheless Saber did materialise in time to parry the attack with her sword, causing the attacker to stumble backwards but never falling over. Nero Claudius gripped her sword's hilt with both hands and held it up next to her head, her body lowered into a passive-aggressive fighting stance and positioned right in front of her Praetor. The attacker was a blue robed stranger with a fur rimmed hood, his eyes hidden underneath the shadow cast by the hood, although his long blue hair cascaded down his front. Wielded in a two handed grip was the long, red shaft of a spear that had a deadly crimson gleam in the moonlight. Both heroic spirits stood still like stone statues, willing each other to make the first move... or the first mistake. A few moments later, the spear-man relented. Spinning his red lance, the spear-man straightened his posture and rested his weapon on his shoulder whilst a confident smirk was formed by his lips.

"Damn, that's the second time a Saber stopped me from killing her master, or am I just getting déjà vu?" the spear-man asked, then chuckled, "am I right, Artoria Pendragon, King of Knights?"

Saber lowered her own guard, "Who? I'm afraid you have mistaken me for someone else"

"Really?" frowned the hooded spear-man, scratching the back of his hood, then muttering: "I swear you Saber class servants look the same..."

"I take it that you are of the Lancer class?" asked Saber, with a note of mockery in her speech which was so subtle it sounded almost like politeness.

"Just because I have a spear doesn't mean I'm a Lancer," argued the spear-man reasonably, seemingly ignoring Saber and Minoru, to admire his long, red spear, "perhaps I could be an archer, berserker, rider, assassin or maybe even a caster..."

"Very funny, but you're obviously a Lancer," laughed Saber, then returning to her fighting stance, courting combat, "besides you'd make a terrible assassin"

The spear-man didn't even bristle in anger, he merely returned Saber's laugh with a sly chuckle.

"Oh, believe me... I can if I want to," the spear-man said darkly once he'd finished his chuckle and got into his own stance, then cried: "ready or not, I shall come to take your life!"

"Umu... you're welcome to try," smirked Saber, tightening the two handed grip on her blade's hilt.

Then, without warning, the spear-man sprung at Saber with superhuman agility. The initial attack was easily parried by Saber's blade. The emperor's reply to the hooded spear-man's strike was a series of aggressive jabs and slashes which sent her adversary staggering backwards, forced into a defensive retreat with his spear spinning like a windmill to parry each of Nero's attacks. Soon the spear was spinning so quickly that Saber's sword was unable to make contact to the spear at all, instead, the red-black blade was pushed back by some wind-like barrier. Saber's green eyes widened in surprise as she lost the momentum of her onslaught and with it her focus causing her to be thrown back by the force of the whirlwind produced by the spinning spear. Before Saber could recover, the spear-man used the wind generated to propel himself above the ground and with even greater speed, he repeated his initial move but this time using Saber's own tactic against her: jabbing and slashing with both ends of his spear. Saber was overwhelmed so was running out of options, she needed to protect her Praetor at all costs. Roaring defiantly, Saber slammed down her sword causing a wave of flaming wind to swipe the spear-man backwards. Then with another roar, Saber leapt at her opponent, swinging her sword with all her might at the centre of the red spear. It seemed to happen in slow motion, the spear began cracking through the middle before smashing into smithereens like many shards of glass.

With his hood thrown back by the blast, the spear-man's face was revealed: a sly pair of red irised eyes and spiky long blue hair. His ears were decorated with droplet shaped, silver earrings. Despite his weapon being destroyed, the red-eyed man showed no fear nor desperation. Then again, he had the higher ground. He was in control. Saber pointed her blade at the man's chest.

"Most impressive, you broke my legendary spear," smiled the enemy servant serenely with no hint of anger, "now you shall never know my true name, nor my true class"

"And yet you stand helplessly at the mercy of my blade," taunted Saber softly, clearly not caring about her defeated opponent's identity.

"Am I though?" the enemy servant questioned, folding his arms behind his back. Without warning, he was engulfed in a fiery tornado and disappeared without a single patch of melted tarmac as evidence of his presence earlier. The shards of the once mighty red spear erased itself from existence with a puff of white smoke. Saber stared on helplessly before de-materialising herself. Minoru walked on, the shock of the battle dissipating with every step he took. The young master couldn't help but wonder who had won in that brief encounter, Saber or that other servant?

"Hey, Saber?" Minoru called out.

"Yes, Praetor?"

"What class do you think that servant belongs to?" Minoru asked.

"He was easily a Lancer, his skills with the spear is unparalleled by any other," Saber reflected, "if not for his weapon shattering, I would've needed to resort to using my Noble Phantasm"

"I don't know, he used more magic to overwhelm you than pure skill," Minoru observed, then adding, "from where I was standing anyway"

When they reached the top of the hill, the two were greeted by the sight of a tall, black metal gate. It's bars ended with a sharp point like a sharp stake used to kill vampires. Minoru opened the gate with a loud metallic scrape. The boy winced as the sound pierced his ears. The gate had looked quite new and yet made a scraping noise that was comparable to the metal doors of the storehouse in the Emiya residence. _Maybe this was designed to alert the priestess of potential enemies?_ Thought Minoru, then he questioned that thought, _surely a place of worship wouldn't need such precautions_. Then it occurred to him, the church's representative was the overseer of the war and so would be a prime target for a rule breaking master or their servant. Once he passed the gate and closed it, Minoru travelled on the dark grey cobble pathway that led straight to the church building. Perhaps this place would be a welcoming sight during the day, but right now it gave the atmosphere of danger and vulnerability as if trying to ward off any visitors both welcome and unwelcome.

Opening the large wooden oak door, Minoru stepped into the church, there were many rows of wooden pews and near the walls were candles with guttering flames that lit the chamber dimly. At the altar, with her back facing the door, was the priestess. She wore a plain black church robes and had a long wavy light grey hair reached her hip. Her hands were not visible, Minoru deduced that her arms maybe clasped together in front of her as she prayed silently. He cautiously closed the door behind him and slowly made his way towards the priestess through the main aisle between the pews leading to the altar.

"May I help you?" asked a soft female voice before Emiya Minoru got barely three meters away from the priestess. Halting in his tracks, Minoru stood still. The priestess lowered her hands revealing that she wore a pair of white, silk gloves , then she pivoted around to face Minoru. To the master's surprise the priestess wasn't an old lady as her hair had led him to believe, rather she was a woman in her late thirties with smooth unwrinkled skin and peculiar golden coloured eyes. Around her neck dangled a silver cross necklace along with a long red scarf that was somehow mesmerising to Minoru.

"Err... yes, I would like to ask you about the other masters," began Emiya Minoru, his eyes transfixed at the priestess' scarf, "I think such information would be useful as I do not have the means to find them out myself accept from direct confrontation which I don't want to resort to doing his early in the war"

"You ask for a lot, boy," remarked the priestess, a small smile forming on her lips, "I too lack the means in which I could know the identities of the other masters, unlike the previous overseers"

"Oh..." replied Minoru, his face downcast and his shoulders slumped.

"However, I can tell you that all servants besides from Berserker and Assassin have been summoned," the Priestess told him, her smile vanishing as her face reverted back into it's expressionless position, then crossing her arms behind her back whilst walking towards the arched, stained glass window which had a pedestal with a fossilised snake scale encased in a glass display case, turning her back to Minoru, "As for their masters... I know nothing, as I have said before"

After a moment of silence, the priestess turned to face Minoru once more, "Have you any more enquiries?"

"No, thank you for your time," bowed Minoru as he turned to leave and walk towards the doorway, only to stop and faced the priestess again, "I didn't catch your name, mother"

"Hortensia... Caren Hortensia," returned the priestess, giving another of her small smiles, "farewell and good luck, master of Saber"

Minoru frowned at her for a few fleeting seconds and turned to leave the church.

"Well that was pointless," complained Saber, her voice holds disappointment. The heroic spirit from ancient Rome had remained invisible in her spirit form.

"Not really, at least now we know which servants to watch out for," countered Minoru, "thank goodness the two most unpredictably formidable classes haven't entered the battlefield"

"Assassin? Formidable?" snorted Saber haughtily, "you've got to be kidding me, Praetor, everybody knows that class is so weak that they end up dying first, everybody knows no one picks on Berserker and everybody knows that everyone gangs up and tries to get rid of caster first"

"You're making far too much assumptions there, Saber," Minoru said, raising his hands, "Every heroic spirit is powerful in their own right, besides we shouldn't underestimate our enemies"

From there on none of them spoke for a while, wary of a second attack from the blue haired spear-man or any other servant for that matter. Despite their caution, no heroic spirit pounced out of the bushes to eliminate Emiya Minoru- in fact nobody was there at all. This was all too coincidentally suspicious to Minoru, or perhaps it was night time and that nobody worked at night in this part of Fuyuki except for Mother Hortensia...

"Something strikes me as odd with that priestess," Minoru remarked to the invisible Saber, the young Mage was frowning with deep thought , "how did she know of your class?"

"Maybe the overseers are granted power to know those kind of things?" suggested Saber, behind the dismissive naivety of her voice was a almost invisible mix of amusement and deep hatred which Minoru barely noticed, "I mean, why do you think she knew about the summoned servants"

"Or, I have another theory!" Minoru said excitedly, "what if she was that spear-man's master, eh?"

"Umu! It seems my Praetor has accepted my conclusion," responded the emperor smugly, Minoru could just imagine the red dressed warrior smirking haughtily right now.

"No, I said spear-man," the master corrected his servant, "I never admitted that he was of the Lancer class"

"Whatever," dismissed Saber, Minoru visualised the emperor rolling her green eyes, "back to your theory though, I don't think the overseer can participate in the war"

"My mother said the one in the last war participated," Minoru put in, "he did it in secret, though"

"If this one also decides to break the rules, then we're in big trouble..."

 _ **BREAK**_

He sat upon his snow white throne of quartz and marble, staring at the back of his hand which had a command seal shaped like two ellipses intersecting each other with a circle at the centre of that intersection and at the centre of that circle was a dot. The war had started and going the way he'd envisioned, he was to be the seventh master and he would command the most powerful of all the heroic spirits. Berserker. Now all he needed was the catalyst in which to summon his servant. Soon the Holy Grail will be in his grasp and the activation of the Third magic, Heaven's Feel, will undergo completion. His purple eyes looked up. Guarding his throne room were rows of helmeted men and women, or to be precise, the homunculus that he had escaped with from his mountain castle in Europe. The castle was a great home fit for a Magus of high status, certainly greater than this inferior mansion that the Einzbern masters had resided Fuyuki in the Grail wars prior. Jubstacheit von Einzbern stroked his chin, only to remember that he no longer had a beard. The Einzbern elder had transferred his essence into a homunculi of his own creation, a much younger and more powerful vessel to carry his essence. _This time it will be the Einzberns who will win the war_ , thought Jubstacheit balling his command seal hand into a fist, making his knuckles and veins bulge.

The elder's thoughts were interrupted by the opening of the throne room door, there standing in the doorway curtseying with her eyes closed was another homunculi, or to be more precise, a Justeaze type homunculi. Modelled after the very first Einzbern, this homunculi was designed to be the Grail's vessel, but she didn't know that, Jubstacheit made sure of it.

"My lord, I trust your new body is to your liking now?" the homunculi asked him once she'd began approaching him, she was of course referring to the earlier extreme discomfort that he had suffered as a side effect to essence transfer, which had thankfully subsided over the days he'd been in Fuyuki. However, those humiliating moments weren't meant to be spoken of, he had forbade it mention, he should strike her down where she stood, but no... she was the Grail's vessel and she was still very useful for him, still, this particular creation had been more rebelliously audacious than the rest.

"Yes, though some discomforts still remain, this body will have to do just fine," returned the elder calmly in a young man's voice, restraining his urge to display his anger, "the old golem form was wearing a bit thin anyway"

"That's good to hear," nodded the homunculi, brushing back her white hair and blinking with her ruby red eyes , before taking out eight pieces of crumpled A4 paper, all had a drawing of a scribbled symbol of a crossed out circle, "I have the catalysts that you requested for, my lord"

Jusbstacheit grunted approvingly, "excellent, begin the ritual, soon the most powerful servant will be summoned, at last"

* * *

 **Afterword (PLZ READ)**

Thanks again for reading, I hope you all liked it! I actually planned for Jubstacheit's homunculus body to be that of a pre-teen kid but I thought that might be confusing since I was thinking of adding a servant who also takes the form of a pre-teen kid (that's all I'm going to say for now about that! XD). My favourite parts of this chapter was when Nero said her first "Umu!" and the entire scene with Jubstacheit and his army of homumculi, although I do agree with Saber's impression of Emiya's meeting with Mother Caren Hortensia (Fate fans will know her true surname!), I couldn't really do much there because Minoru doesn't know her nor her infamous father so I could only make references there, so she was basically a walking, living, breathing piece of exposition (at least from Emiya Minoru's perspective ufufufufu...). My regret in this chapter is not making the fight between Nero and Cu Chulainn any longer, however, the briefness of their duel illustrates symbolically how much Cu Chulainn really cares for fights and how fights must be scarce in the opening of the war (Especially with 2 servants still unsummoned at he time) so that wasn't a total loss I guess...

In the next chapter, I will shift the focus onto the other masters and servants before returning to Saber and Minoru; I am doing this because, as I have said in the first chapter, I would like to do this fanfic series in the style of Fate/ Zero instead of Fate/ Stay Night where only the main character mattered and the others were pretty much cannon fodder (although I wouldn't mind doing that kind of story if I was feeling lazy! (JK I won't do that, at least, I hope I don't!). Along with that I may just do Assassin's grand reveal as in this story he won't be killed off that easily, oh, and Assassin's master should be really obvious. Although I wish I could reveal Assassin and their master as more of a surprise near the end or something, but that'll just take the spotlight off him but at the same time it would've been a much more awesome reveal. Ah well...

I would like to continue my Doctor-chan series and I'll definitely update my Star Wars fanfiction that you guys seem to like most next.

Until next time!


End file.
